Tough Luck: War Stories of a Carrier
by Garnets-and-Dragons
Summary: Follow the USS Dwight D. Flysenhower and his crew as they sail great blue sea, braving storms, fighting battles, and otherwise take on the world bow on. (First few chapters have been rewritten and updated)
1. Call It Luck

If you've read this story before, hello. Yes this is different. I fixed all the stuff that made me want to throw up, so major revisions are before us. I may also be able to get a friend to Beta Read for me.

If you have not read this story before, Hello. I talk a lot, ignore that top part. Thank you for your interest.

**Warnings for this chapter: Cussing. Nike will be putting his bleeping abilities to good use today. If you have sensitive hearing, be warned. Fog horns are rather loud. **

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><p><em>Date: Someday in early June, Location: Somewhere in the north pacific - Mission: Search and Destroy - Target: Rouge diesel submarine - Weather conditions: Hot, wind blowing at 5 knots, small waves, no cloud cover, Sunny with a chance of chaos later in the day.<em>

_Extra notes: Beware, sailors are reporting rather aggressive seagulls this week. Make sure to wear your covers. _

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><p>"Admiral! Look out!" Was the only thing Dwight D. Flysenhower heard as the 90,000 tonne flat top was violently rocked by an explosion just above his waterline.<p>

The realization had yet to sink in on just what such a massive explosion so close to one's hull ment, and even worse what an explosion so far back could have done to one's reactor.

Alarm bells were already ringing in his head, quite literally.

Because by all account aircraft carriers can't shake their heads, as their superstructure was rather well welded down, leaving them to rely on rather less comfortable method of clearing their heads. The age old tradition of tongue biting, or under more desperate "bow dunk in cold sea water".

At this point, the third was not yet an option, though some cold water would certainly have been appreciated.

In an impressive display of speed, precision and coordination, his crew had already put emergency protocol in place, and damage response units were already on their way, the fire suppression boys hot on their tires.

If there hadn't been the threat of more explosions, or the very real realization that someone could have just lost their loved one to this explosion, the massive warship would have found the confusion if the unfortunate night crew, laying there on the floor from where they had fallen from their bunks, mildly amusing.

By his estimate, concussions were abound today.

"How the *insert any number of expletives here* did that thing make it past our defenses?!"

The captain was already on the controls, taking over where his ship couldn't while still juggling the communications between the fleet and even within the ship itself.

By now, the Flysenhower had gotten his mind cleared enough to take the control of the rest, putting his multitasking abilities to use sorting out the facts.

"Dwight! What the * insert fog horn here* was that?!"

"That was a torpedo Captain,'" He offered helpfully, all the while mentally going through damage calculations and excluding weather factors, "And please, stop screaming. I can hear you just fine."

"You're awfully calm for a ship that's missing several bulkheads and an entire chunk of hull."

"Yes, I know. It's a ship thing really. I'll start panicking if I start taking on water, if that makes you feel better."

"Not necessarily, but thank you for the consideration."

After the damage had been assessed and fleet made their emergency run back to port, the truth became frighteningly evident. Somehow, their tight parameter had been infiltrated and the damage could have been much much worse.

That night, under the mercury glow of the moon and in the safe confines of a dry dock, the crew had gotten an unexpected week of shore leave and their unfortunate ship a major pain in the flank.

"Captain?"

"Yes."

"If you see some sailors with rather... scrappy paint touch ups, give them a pass. It seems rocking ships don't make for the best places to go for paint work."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"And how are the sleeping beauties?"

"Alright, only two major concussions and a broken tail fin."

"At least we're all still alive."

"Agreed.."

That was just his luck, as tough as it may have been.

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><p><em>Ahem... how was that? I like it much more, though it's gotten a little bit shorter. OH WELL *shot* *insert dramatic flop here* <em>

_Also round of applause to Nike. He did well. _

_Also, paint touch ups... are the vehicle versions of a hair cut. Can't let that uniform get flaky. _


	2. Bush Pilots

_Nothing important needs to be said here, just two bushes and an aircraft carrier. _

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><p><em>Date: October 31st, last year- Location: navy docks in Snowquire, Washington - Mission: NA - Weather conditions: chilly, wind blowing at 10 knots, small waves, low clouds._

_Extra Note: No, we will not be using broom sticks as sabers. Please return to cleaning duty._

"What are you doing."

"It's our halloween costumes, sir."

"You look like wandered off the set of a low budget spy comedy."

"That's...accurate enough sir."

"You are aware this is not what Camouflage BDU's are..."

"Completely sir."

_Dwight_ D. Flysenhower let out a rather exasperated mix of a groan and a sigh, watching the two winged clowns blow leaves and things from their faces and intakes. Perhaps if they had been in stationed as guards in a park, such a silly look would have fooled the unobservant passerby, but out here, on the deck of an aircraft carrier, the stood out like neonlight lighthouse.

"How'd you see us?"

There was a moment of consideration as the Nimitz Class Supercarrier weighed the effect of a well timed snort against the option of a quick shrubbery quip. He decided on neither.

"It's not everyday I see two bushes on my flight deck."

"How did you know it was us?"

_Dwight "Yorkie" Flysenhower_ rolled his caribbean eyes in a silent plea for mercy before putting out the naturally blunt opinion of a warship. "You are the only two of my four airwings with little enough care of your reputations to dress up as shrubbery."

"Well, I was going paint myself as the Red Baron... but Echo wouldn't let me."

"Not surprising on either count."

"Figures."

"What are you two supposed to be anyway?"

"Bush Pilots."

"Brilliant."


	3. Meet the Fleet

"Hey! Watch it you overgrown submersible!"

"Next time you surface like that, give us all a heads up!"

"That's cannot be regulation permitting."

"It isn't."

"Looks kinda fun."

"Sure, you go ahead and try it kid. Say good morning to the flounders while you're at it."

"Kip, be nice."

"Don't tell me what to do. You're not my mother."

"She out ranks you, Kip. I suggest you show some respect."

"Yes sir."

Such conversations were not unusual, and despite their unprofessional nature, were so ingrained into daily routine that the event was looked forward to by everyone.

It also showed well the wide range of personalities that graced the fleet.

Kip with his trigger happy, blunt nature. Solstice's calm and collected yet open ways. Nike and his rule oriented lifestyle. Hammerhead's pranks and quips. And young Seaclutch's optimistic personality.

(CVN-81) allowed a faint smile to grace his lips.

Kip was particularly engaged that morning, seemingly having gotten a decent night's sleep despite his late night complaining, courtesy of some pesky porpoises.

His no quit attitude was infectious, though thankfully the same could not be said for his love of anything that blew stuff up. He wasn't a danger to his fellow crew, showing amazing care when needed, but he did have that particular love for wib weaponry, maybe a relic passed down from his battleship ancestors. Even today, big was often better.

Often, but not always.

Solstice had much fewer weapons, although she was by no means defenseless. A fact that Kip was quick to learn. Even when unarmed, those wicked teeth could give quite a hurting. Thankfully it had never come to that. The undeniable truth was, without her the fleet would fall apart in a dramatic ball of white hot flames. She was the mediator, keeping everyone in line and out of trouble. Always calm as a clam, she could keep even the most volatile situation from blowing up, useful when one had to calm the seas and 90,000 tonnes of pissed off aircraft carrier.

Speaking of calm sea...

"As you are certainly aware, we will meeting the USS Abraham Lincoln at 1900 hours. Weather reports suggest the formation of a rather nasty storm in the vicinity. We have changed location, the coordinates should be appearing on your computers within moments."

He was quickly answered by a resounding chorus of "Yes, sir!"s.

"Nike, be sure to keep radio contact."

The green eyed guided missile destroyer nodded, bobbing his bow in the cold seawater. He could always be counted on to check, recheck and triple check EVERYTHING.

"Can I say something?"

"No kid, ya can't."

Seaclutch flinched, sinking lower in the water. Despite being larger than both Kip and Nike and being naturally optimistic, he was still rather quiet and shy by nature.

Thankfully Hammerhead offered enough shenanigans for both of them... or better said all of them. He never meant any harm in his crazy ways. Unless you were the enemy... then he packed quite a punch.

"I'm just kidding kid, what you wanna say?" Ham said

"I think we should get going, if we want to meet the Abraham Lincoln by the designated time, we'll need to leave soon, sir." Buster said, still looking a rather uncomfortable.

"Aye Aye, Sir!"


	4. High Waves and Northern Lights

"Five minutes, that's all I'm asking! Five minutes of no rolling or pitching so I can drink my coffee in peace."

With a frustrated huff, the Captain reached out a fork to keep his cup of coffee from sliding off the table, as his first cup had already made a mess of his quarters and the last thing he needed was to be cleaning up a hot spill after only a half a cup.

But yet again large supercarrier listed to the starboard, pens rolling off of tables, and papers hanging precariously at the brink. A quiet yelp was a clear indication that another brave sailor had fallen off his perch and onto the cold floor.

"When the waves stop for five minutes, I'll do that. My job is not to make you comfortable, I am not a cruise ship." There was an uncharacteristic strain in his voice, the product of fighting the waves and gales for the last six hours. His massive gray flanks worked too much like a sail, pushing him constantly off course.

The captain offered only a sigh, and opted just to hold his coffee cup instead. At least this way his forks stayed warm.

Down in the cafeteria, Echo and Bravo were rather busy chasing their breakfasts across the tables. The whole Jolly Wrenches squadron were crammed down into the mess hall, having taken over the back corner like any professional military unit did.

The almost constant listing made such a simple task as eating jump up into the difficulty level of beating a squadron of F-22's in a mock combat simulation. As soon as one would manage to grab hold of their meals, another would have to chase theirs, making the tables unendingly messy, promising quite the task for the cleaning crew.

"Hey, Zebra! Have tried racing the plates yet?"

"Very funny, shrimpy."

This dinner conversation had been rather lacking, due to the unusual amount of concentration required, but it could be left up to young Zap to start one up, whatever means necessary. Even at the cost of Zebra's wrath. While racing was a much enjoyed hobby of the Hornet/Tomcat hybrid to the point of close obsession, she wasn't about to let this rookie get the best of her.

Next to Zebra, Echo was trying his best to keep his can of jet fuel from escaping his grasp, but such a momentous task was not going to be completed by meer jaws.

"Need help?"

"No." In an amusing show of stubbornness, Echo scooted as far away as he could from Bravo's reach in order to prove such an important point. Unfortunately this movement tipped the opened container dangerously to one side, threatening to spill it's contents all over the table.

Of course, Zebra didn't take kindly to being squashed so close to her own neighbor, and such opinion was quickly expressed with a gentle but firm headbutt to the flank. "Move it, I you're invading my personal space!"

"Am not."

"Than please explain why your wing is almost stabbing me in the eye."

"Why is your eye so close to my wing? Is the paint scratched?"

"Just move over before I start pushing." Deciding to not risk invoking a shove for the mere sake of his meal, Echo scooted a few feet to the left, but made sure to keep his can as far away from Bravo as possible, despite the fact the other male was no longer interesting in offering his assistance.

Farther down the row of tables, a can skidded off the table with a determination comparable to that of a honey badger.

"Good thing Cosmos was too busy talking to have opened his can." Zap offered between a mouthful of his own.

Without warning, the _Flysenhower_ hit an unexpectedly large wave, and Bravo felt himself sliding and before he knew he was only one of a many sandwiched between their comrades and the bulkheads. Echo had managed to brace himself on a table, but Zap hadn't been so lucky. Flattened between the imposing form of Theta, a darked eyed A-10 and Superhornet mix, and the smaller but no softer Pluto, the youngest of the Wrenches had no chance to even brace before the ship listed the opposite direction and the pile up followed suit.

Behind him, Rat lost his grip and slid across the room, the older Hornet having no choice but to escape the group waterslide by taking shelter by a support column.

This continued for another minute or so before their ship managed to compensate for the push of the wind.

Eventually, as the day crew headed for their bunk, the waves calmed enough to allow for the use of the raised bunks, though sleep was bound to be difficult to catch.

All through the night, the fleet of warships braved the high waves, even though it seemed the storm would never end. The carrier Admiral was slowly coming to the realization that his fleet couldn't take much more.

Fighting against the waves was demanding a huge amount of energy and concentration, energy that was not easy to obtain.

The _Flysenhower's_ nuclear powered engine offered him a tremendous amount of energy, but the conventionally powered engines of his fleetmates had to worked much harder to keep up with the energy demanded by such conditions. They would be burning through their fuel stores incredibly quickly. No doubt their engines were reaching a dangerously high temperature. It would be best to get them out quick.

Not to mention the general discomfort of being continuously bombarded by walls of raging saltwater. Such a feeling was quickly reinforced as "Buster" spit out a mouth full of seawater. "Eugh, gross."

"If you don't want water in your mouth I suggest you keep it shut." The massive carrier offered. He felt bad, knowing that the young ship's have the same height he did, and that the waves often washed over his the whole deck. It was times like these that he envied submarines, being able to ride out the storm far below the surface.

"How far till we're out of the storm?" Solstice asked, shaking off the remains of a rather large wave that had reached almost to her eyes.

"Not far, we are almost there."

"Set course two degrees left of our current should cut our time in this storm drasticlly."

With that change of course it was another hour and a half before the fleet reached calmer waters, but no matter it was a welcome relief for both ship and crew. And the sight that awaited them was a reward all on it's own.

Up high it seemed that ribbons of silky light were weaving between the stars, simmering and moving like dancers in glowing rainbow robes. So far north, close to the Aleutian Islands, the Northern Lights were a spectacular sight. An a rare one indeed.

While few were ever allowed on deck, such a sight could not be hidden from the crew. They had worked hard the past four months, and deserved the this short opportunity to get some fresh air and enjoy the beauties of the night sky.

The news spread quickly, and even Hammerhead surfaced to join the gawking crowds.

"It seems the stars have found themselves quite the dancer partners tonight."

A sight like this, is certainly worth the struggle of a storm.

Echo and Bravo slipped out onto the deck with their comrades; neither had seen such a sight before without the help of pictures and postcards, that had barely held a candle to such an amazing sight. Maybe moving north wasn't such a bad idea.

For a moment the word fading in to nothing but a spectacular light show, and all cares and worried were swept away on wings of red and purple. The difficulties and stresses of deployment melted, and troubles of the world felt like nothing more than distant memories.

It was calm now, and quiet. Unbelievably quiet.

Echo tapped his friend's wing with a grinned brightly. "How about we take the night time patrol today?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Together they followed their squadron to the catapults and the shot off in the stars to join the dancers in the weaving world of wonders, and to once again bring safely to the fleet.

After all, anything could happen in the open sea.

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><p><em>O.O Everyone says I need to stop rewriting and get some sleep... what's sleep? I've never heard of it. <em>


	5. Nuclear physics and Watches

_An even more pointless chapter I came up with fare watching a show on nuclear reactors XD_

_Two updates within two hours! Yay!_

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><p>"If I'm going to be using it, I want to know how it works." The Flysenhower snapped, giving a harsh glare to a small car park on the outside of the covered dry dock he was in.<p>

"I'm sure you won't understand what I'm saying." The car, a nuclear engineer said, looking at the large, and very stubborn carrier.

"I'm sure we will." The USS Nimitz snapped, he wasn't usually bad temper, but he didn't take well to being treated as if he didn't know much. Even if he knew that the car was probably right.

The two brothers were next to each other in the covered hanger dry docks in Snowquire, the navy was going to replace their old diesel engines with more efficient nuclear reactors.

But neither ship was going to agree to using them until they were sure they were safe, and knew how they worked.

So, for the next several hours, the nuclear engineer gave them the quick,simple run down, true to his word, not much of what he said made sense but the ships got a close enough to the idea.

As soon as the engineer was out of hearing range, Dwight snorted. "I don't know if this is such a great idea..."

Nimitz sighed. "We don't exactly have a choice in the matter." He said.

Dwight rolled his eyes. "I know that, I still don't like the idea..." He shifted, the was just enough water in the drydock left for him to list slightly.

"Neither do I." Nimitz said, glancing over. Unlike his brother's ice blue eyes, the Nimitz had lighter blue, almost gray.

They both sighed in unison, some of the crew in hanger glanced over.

For a while they were both silent.

Than after a little while Nimitz sighed again. "So, did you understand what he said?" He asked.

"A little bit, I got the idea, but I don't think I could explain it."

"Same here." He said.

There was a little more silence.

Dwight sighed again and began to hum the tune to some obscure sailors song.

"What are singing?" The Nimitz asked.

"I'm not signing anything."

The Nimitz rolled his eyes. "Fine, have it your way. What are you humming?"

"No clue. I just heard it somewhere, not sure what it's called."

"Oh."

Again there was more awkward silence.

"What time is it?" Nimitz asked.

"Time for you to get a watch._"_


	6. Into the Darkness Part 1

Beware! Read this sad, pain stuffs at your own risk!

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><p>Darkness, nothing but darkness. Endless darkness. And the pain, the endless pain... The young USS Flysenhower whimpered, or at least, he thought he did. He couldn't tell.<p>

Voices, blurry voices, he couldn't make out what they were saying, he didn't want to.

A streak of panic shot through them, who were these voices? What did they want?

Slowly, the voices became clearer, they began to sound familiar, he knew them, they were friendly voices, he could trust them. He knew them.

There was another bolt of pain, and the young ship retreated back into his hole of darkness, a silent void where he felt safer. The voices were now nothing but background noise, like the static of a television.

Again, he slowly began to emerge from the void of emptiness, back into a frantic world of pain and panic. Past the pain, past the terror that haunted him, he could feel something pulling him, the closer he got, the strong it became. It felt like a gentle tug, not harmful, just demanding.

There were the voices again, clearer now. He began to form words now...

He crept forward, slowly, closer to the voices, but as he did the pain increased. Why was he in so much pain? What had happened? Where was he?

As he continued to venture from the comforting abyss of nothingness, he words began to form fragments of conversation. Slowly they got longer. He began to hear them more clearly...

"How is he?..."

"...the impact..."

"...too far from shore..."

"...enemy vessels located..."

"...get him to safety..."

That first voice, it almost sounded like...

Thats when Dwight opened his eyes, he was immediately bombarded with a tidal wave of sound, light, colors, and more pain.

"Dwight, talk to me, say something." It was the USS Enterprise, Dwight's mentor. Slowly he tried to form words, but they came out as a messy mumble gumble of slurred speech, impossible to understand.

Slowly he could make out the blurry form of the sky, and of some large, dark gray object just in the side of his vision. He could feel warmth and the vibrations of a powerful engine against his flank. He tried to speak again, with no success

"Thats it kid, keep talking."

Dwight eyes drooped closed again, as he began to feel his consciousness slip away again. "No, no, no kid, stay with me, come on, keep your eyes open! Talk to me kid, stay awake!"

Dwight forced his eyes to open, this time he could just barely make out the outline of his mentor by his starboard side, he could feel the larger ship pressed against him.

The glare of sunlight in his eyes caused him to close them again, there was a ringing in his head, the pressure in his head almost unbearable as if he had a huge clamp around it. He felt himself slipping away...

Than as if in the blink of an eyes, the whole world went black again, and he fell back into the void of numbness, not feeling, no thoughts, just numbness.

This would continue for quite some time, as he hid from the pain, for the chaos, from the panic, than he would venture back into the world of conscious to find his mentor by his side, and feeling of slow movement through the water. He would mumble a few delirious questions or comments, before he would once again slip away in to darkness. The last time he remembered waking up, there was the sound of another huge engine on his port side, and he remembered the voice of the USS Kitty Hawk , had he shown up too? But before he had time to ponder, the world went black once again.

"Come on, we have to hurry, we're all big floating targets out here!" The Enterprise said, glancing over at his half brother, the USS Kitty Hawk.

Both had been tied up to the young carrier and were hauling him to the nearest navy base. Out here in the middle of the ocean, tug boats weren't available.

The rookie had been hit by three torpedoes, one right after the other, all near the same point. The hole was huge and painful, and had paralyzed the young ships steering abilities. The youngster was barely alive, and only woke up every once in a while, and didn't stay awake for more than a few minutes. He was pale as a ghost, and trembling like a leaf in a hurricane. When he was awake, he would still be pale, blue eyes darting all over the place, unfocused and panicked, like a cornered animal.

The two ships moved silently through the water for a long time, ever once in a while they would exchange a few words, or spoke orders to the crew.

For a long time, the Enterprise stayed silent, lost deep in thought.

"He's going to be okay." The Kitty Hawk said, pulling the Enterprise out of his gloomy hole of thought. "We don't have far to go."

The Enterprise stayed quiet, barely reacting to the Kitty Hawk.

With a sighed, the Kitty Hawk decided it would be best just to leave the other ship to his thoughts. He knew that he would snap out of it soon enough on his own anyway. Plus, he still had work to do.

"Is he gonna be okay?" A voice said from next to him.  
>The Kitty Hawk glared at his own apprentice, The Nimitz. "Yes," He snapped. "What did I tell you about sneaking up on me like that?"<p>

"To not to." The Nimitz said. "But it's not my fault, you were distracted."

The Kitty Hawk gave him a glare, shutting the younger carrier up.

The Nimitz followed by their side, quiet as a mouse, watching, trying to peek over the still larger ships to try at get a glance of his brother.

Everytime he tried to speed up a few knots so he could peek over his mentor's deck, and get galace of his little brother, his mentor would speed up as well, to keep him from seeing.

"He's gonna be okay." The Kitty Hawk said. "It looks worse than it is."

The Nimitz wasn't convinced. "Than why are you hiding him?" He asked, a worried look on his face.

"Because you worry too much for your own good,and if you're worried you get distracted, when you get distracted-"

"You get hurt, I know... I just-"

"Nimitz, he's gonna be fine, now get a move on before I send you ahead to go babysit the submarines." The Kitty Hawk snapped, giving the blue eyed aircraft carrier a sharp nudge with his bow.

The Nimitz sighed and turned, heading to to their 11:00 o-clock. "Yes, sir." He turned away, sour, and slightly angry, but he knew that his mentor was right. He also knew his mentor was stressed, out here, with this huge of a fleet, and the three large carriers roped together, they were one giant target. He also knew that his mentor was worried about the his little brother too. Still, he wished he could do more..

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><p>To be continued in the next chapter! Look out for part two!<p> 


	7. In to the Darkness Part 2

_I'm back! _

_Highschool is really kicking my butt, that goodness it's almost summer vacation!  
><em>

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><p>"Dwight, come on, can ya hear me?" A voice called through the daze of drowsiness as the USS Dwight D. Flysenhower opened his eye to the bright, glaring sunlight.<p>

"W-Wha? W-here am-a-am I?" He asked, frantically trying to remeber what had happened, and get some sort of bearing on his position.

"Home kido." The voice said.

When Dwight opened his eyes, he was indeed back in Snowquire, for a long moment he could do nothing more that take in the familiar scenery and the almost safe feeling of being back at his port, of course, it would have been easier if there hadn't been so many black dots dancing across his vision like a bunch of little pesky insects. .

Finally he decided to glance at the Enterprise, who was in dry dock next to him. "How you feeling?"

He considered that for a moment. "Like I... g-got hit-t by a torp-edo." He said, after all aircraft carriers can't get run over by freight trains, or thrown in front of a speeding buses.

It was around than that he realized, he couldn't feel any pain, or anything for that matter. His eyes widened in panic, but a soft chuckle from his mentor seemed to make things seem less frightening. "That would be the painkillers kid, It seems they did their job a little too well."

Dwight mumbled in agreement. It was rare that anyone used painkillers on aircraft carriers, because it took a special, heavily regulated compound that could easily kill if it got into the wrong wheels, or wings, or who ever meant to use it for sinister purposes. It was powerful enough that a raindrop size droplet of it could kill anything smaller than an a F-22 Raptor, could easily overdose everything to about the size of a C-108 Flying Fortress to battleship. It was made for aircraft carriers because nothing else was powerful enough to have any affect on ships so large.

"How- How long w-as I out?" He asked, glad his voice seemed to be improving a little.

There was some silent consideration from the Enterprise. "In and out for almost a week now." He said.

Dwight mulled over that for a while, and closed his eyes to block out those irritating black spots again. "When di-d we get he-here?"

Again a short silence, than the older ship spoke up again. "Two days at sea, than five here at dock."

"Wha-WHat's the dama-ge?" He asked, he was beginning feel drowsy again.

There was soft chuckle. "Not now kid, you better get some rest, you're pushing yourself."

Dwight considered protesting, he still had so many questions, but he decided against it. He knew it was best to get plenty of rest, so he could return to the battlefield. He knew he was needed.

Dwight closed his eyes, he knew he still would be in dry dock for maybe a month, at least he hoped. Still, it felt nice to be home, but he was needed, to protect the country he loved. So with that he fell to sleep. Already waiting till he could once again return to waters, and do what he knew he was meant to do.

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><p><em>Well, this is the end of that :3 I know it was a little short, but I didn't need too much.<br>_

_I might come back and rewrite this chapter eventually,it just dosne't seem right, somthing is missing, but I don't have the time to keep rewriting it over and over again. I'll let you all know when/if that happens.  
><em>

_Have a great day! (Or night, or whatever XD)_


	8. Dragonfire

_Hello!_

_Sorry for the delay! I've been REALLY busy this summer. _

_I have to take two online courses, a credit recovery and an extra class. I'll tell ya, I was not ready to spend the summer doing school work! They also take up a LOT of time I need to write!  
><em>

_*Yawns* I pretty much have been writing this chapter before I even posted the last one. I rewrote this one about five hundred times... _

_Anyway, hope you enjoy!_

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><p>"Come on, go over there and talk to her!" The USS Nimitz said with a grin, nudging his brother forward slightly. He had to admit, he REALLY loved harassing his brother.<p>

"No!" The USS Flysenhower said, glaring at his older brother. "Not happening." He listed in the water, giving his brother a sort of lopsided glare. "I'm not going over there!"

"You've done it before." The USS Carl Vinson said, glancing over. He was their younger brother, by a few years. He had already been built with the new nuclear powered engines. He was bright, and bubbly, always ready to make someone smile, but he was also a hard worker, and a dedicated soldier. He could be tough and demanding when the time warrants for it, but he never yelled at someone until he was sure they really deserved it, and was never rude about anyone making a mistake.

Unlike Dwight or Nimitz, who had blue eyes, his eyes were a bright, lively green, to match his positive outlook, and he almost always had a big smile on his face. Wherever he went, there always seemed to be some kind of sunny field around him.

"Come on, we all know you like her." Nimitz said rolling his eyes. He listed to one side, giving his brother a returned lopsided smile. "And you know it too!"

"As a friend, how many times do I have to tell you two that?" Dwight snapped, defensively, hardening his glare.

The two just burst out in laughter, finding his stare absolutely hilarious.

"Carl, shouldn't you be leaving? I thought you were just stopping by to say hello, not staying here to harass me." Dwight asked, still slightly annoyed."Well, if you want me to leave, I'll do that." The younger ship said, making a hurt face even though it was obvious by the ever cheerful glint in his eyes that he joking.

"I just want to make sure you're not late for anything important." He said, rolling his eyes with a small smile. It was hard to stay mad at him.

"Well, I guess you're right. I better get going." With a smile, the USS Carl Vinson turned and headed out of the harbor.

Nimitz turned to his brother again. "So you gonna go over there and talk to her?" He asked.

Dwight glanced over, sighing heavily. "Will you shut up if I do.?"

The older ship was quiet for a while.. than he grinned. "Sure. I'll do that."

Dwight grumbled and began to move through the water, ignoring the Nimitz, who was stifling laughter behind him.

Dwight swallowed nervously, approaching the USS Dragonbane slowly. "Good morning, lovely day isn't it?"

The USS Dragonbane was a training vessel. She was in a Class all her own, rightly named the Dragon Class. She had a wonderful personality, and was a master at the art of Naval Combat.

She looked over. "It really is gorgeous." She agreed. "How has life been treating you?" She asked, turning to him with a bright beautiful smile.

Dwight smiled, relaxing a little. "Pretty good, I mean, if you ignore the fact that I'm stuck with the two most annoying brothers in the world..."

She rolled eyes, smiling and chuckling softly. "Come on, cut them some slack. They're not that bad."

Dwight laughed "You kidding? They're just that bad."

She rolled her eye again, nudging him with her bow. "Every brother says that, heck, every sibling says that."

"Okay, okay, they're not the most annoying brother in the world, but they are the most annoying brothers in the universe."

"You're hopeless."  
>"Yeah, I get that a lot."<p>

The Dragonbane chuckled, glancing around the harbor.

Dwight shifted in the water, not sure what else to say. "Soo..."

"How's that new engine working for you?" She asked, hoping to break the uncomfortable silence between them.

"Uhhh... Pretty well actually. I mean it still feels kinda weird, but it seems to be doing it's job quite well." He said with a huff.

There was more silence.

Dwight sighed, turning and look at his brother who was grinning at him from across the harbor. Dwight made a face at him, and he just cracked up laughing.

The Dragonbane looked at him, "What's he laughing at?" She asked. Those two seemed to have their own secret language that no one but them could understand.

"Me." He said with a snorted, glaring at his brother, which seemed to make him laugh even harder.

She snorted in amusement. "Why?"

"Because he's the Nimitz." He said blankly, as if that summed up everything.

This made her roll her eyes again. "Oooooookay." She said, looking him with a confused expression. "That makes a lot of sense." She said sarcastically.

He looked at her. "If you really think about it, it does. There's no word on earth that can sum him up better than his name. He's just...well... himself. There's no other way to explain him."

She chuckled. "Alright, I'll take your word on that." She said, she sunk lower in the water, with a sigh. "So, when are you leaving for duty again?"

He looked over at the main docks with a sigh. "Three weeks, give or take. They want to test out the new engine first. I haven't really left the harbor in ages, and they want to see if I can take on real ocean before I go out there for six months. How about you? What are you up too?" He asked

"Same old, same old. It never changes, I do the same thing everyday." She said. "You're lucky, at least you get to go out there and have adventures, I just go around train newbies... all that kinda stuff."

He sighed. "Yeah, I wish I could help you..."

She smiled sadly. "Oh well, at least I get to something helpful."

He nodded. "Yeah, it's always good to look at the bright side."

She smiled. "Yeah. Well, anyway, I got to get going, got a couple of newbies who need some extra hours landing practice. They can't seem to get night landing down."

He laughed softly, smiling at her warmly. He really enjoyed her company, and all though he wouldn't admit it to anyone, especially her, his feelings for her were more than just as a friend, but he tried not to dwell on them too much. "Well, don't let me keep you for that! Will I be seeing you later?" He asked.

She smiled and nodded, perking up a little. "Of course! I'd love to chat more! I mean, I can't today... but tomorrow evening? This time? If you're not busy..."

"I don't think so... so tomorrow evening it is?" He asked.

She smiled at him. "Yup! I'll see you!"With that she turned, and headed off to a dock nearby, pulling up beside it. He watched her for a moment longer, before turning and heading over to where he spent most of the time in the harbor, the dry docks. On his way there he stopped by the Nimitz who was floating lazily in the light of the now setting sun.

"See? Was that so bad? How did it go?" He asked, immediately interested in how his brother conversation had gone.

Dwight chuckled. "Pretty well, no thanks to you." He looked at the orange and yellow sunset, as it made everything take on a golden hue. "We agreed to meet tomorrow."

Nimitz turned to look at the sunset. The sunlight gave his gray paint seem almost bronze. "It about time you two talked more." He said.

The Flysenhower sighed heavily, watching the sun slowly sink below the horizon. The two brothers floated there quietly until the glowing orange orb finally sank below the horizon. As he tuned to leave, he stopped, giving his brother one more glance. He was still watching the horizon, the last dying rays of golden light dancing across his flight deck.

"Thank you.. you know, for... talking me into going over there..." He said. He wanted to say more, but he couldn't seem to find anything else to say.

The Nimitz laughed softly, not moving an inch. "No problem... That's what brothers are there for." He said.

Dwight smiled. "'Night" He said, turning around and baking in to the dry dock.

"Night, little brother." He said, still as a rock.

Dwight closed the hanger doors, and closed his eyes, reflecting on the days events. As he fell asleep, he could just barely hear his brother making his way in to the dry dock next to him. He smiled to himself, realizing he owed his brother one.

The Dragonbane watched her students fly through the night sky, but she couldn't help thinking about her conversation with the larger aircraft carrier. She had feelings for him, but she was afraid to admit it. Did he feel the same way? Or did he consider it just a good natured conversation?

As the three planes came in for another landing, she turned her attention to them. She was silent, treating it as if they had lost communications and had to try and land on their own.

As she watched them land, she couldn't help but glance over at the Flysenhower's dry dock and smile. "Tomorrow night it is." She whispered

* * *

><p><em>*Yawn* That was a long time coming. Let me know what you think! (I'm also taking a few ideas. I probably wont use them all though)<em>


	9. Bath Time

_And now, we get too see what happens when the USS Enterprise tries to get Dwight to take a bath. Got to get rid of those barnacles. _

_A quick note, at the moment, Dwight is pretty small; just a little smaller than the largest US Pre-WW2/WW2 battleships._

_Sorry my updates took so long, I was taking an online Algebra-1 course, as a make up course for failing last years. I kind of slacked, and missed a lot during a family trip, and ended up being, I kid you not, eight weeks behind. Miraculously I finished yesterday with a B. 0.0 I spent the last week doing almost nothing but math... that kind of killed my brain... _

* * *

><p>"DWIGHT FLYSENHOWER! GET BACK HERE!" A loud voice rang over the US Navy Base, startling everyone from the birds resting on the street lamps, too the newbie recruits, who hadn't get gotten used to the constant commotion. The birds took off from their perches, and soared into the air squawking in terror, and the recruits jumped, looking around in a mild panic. Among them a young corsair, named Skipper Riley, who looked around to see the amazingly large figure of an aircraft carrier move through the harbor, looking around for something.<p>

Skipper couldn't help but sink lower on his landing gear as the large ships eyes scanned over the harbor, passing over him and the other new recruits from just a moment before returning his attention to the water.

Another one of corsairs next to Skipper frowned and looked at their little group. "Who do you think he's looking for?" He asked.

"I don't know Pax, but I feel bad for them." He said, looking over at his friends. Pax just made a shrugging motion with his wings and watched the ship move by.

On Skipper's other side, another of the corsairs spoke up. "He did say Dwight, so I would think he's looking for the little carrier."

"Little? It's an aircraft carrier, Tick. Little is not the best way to describe one." Pax said

Skipper snorted. "He's small compared to the rest

And that was the end of that conversation.

Dwight "Yorkie" Flysenhower smirked, sinking lower into the water, and hiding behind the USS Stormstark, a very large, and fairly old battleship.

The Stormstark chuckled softly. "You better get going, before the Big E blows a fuse." His amber eyes sparkled. He had done the same thing when he had been the same age.

The little aircraft carrier let out an exasperated huff, and then a squeal as the Stormstark pulled away, leaving the aircraft carrier out in the open, right in the sight a _very _frustrated, and fuming aircraft carrier.

The Enterprise looked over at him, from where he had been waiting, causing Dwight to yelp and take off to the other side of the port.

Dwight dodged around a submarine, and to the most remote corner of the harbor, where he slipped into an empty dry dock, the doors were open, but he didn't care, as he hoping desperately that his mentor would give up and let him skip his bath.

All the sudden the dry-dock's doors began closing, and the water began draining. "Yorkie" groaned, they had tricked him. **_Again!_**

He let out a huff when the Enterprise made his way up to dock, as the door closed. "Nice try kiddo, but you can't out run me forever." He said with a sly smile.

"No fair! You cheated!" He said, glaring at him.

"Did I?" He asked. "No one ever said I couldn't." He smiled at him, then turned away, his work was done; he had gotten the kid to where he was supposed to be, and was now on his way back to more important things.

Dwight grumbled, glaring at his mentor as he left. "Traitor." He muttered to himself, as the water began to drain out, and the dry-dock lifted out of the water. The crews were already standing by with the high powered hoses and ice scrapers.

Once the water drained out, the first crew push six large beams against his sides, to keep him from falling over, than the second crew quickly set up the cranes, ladders and walkways to help the cleaning crew get to the 'problem areas'.

Dwight groaned again. Now he had to spend the next 12 hours stuck in the dry-docks. Oh joy.

"Come on, you big baby! Stop whining." Rodger, a young forklift said, he sprayed down barnacles and all sorts of icky things.

"I'm not whining, I'm complain'." The ship snapped.

"Well, suck it up, Buttercup. It has to be done." He said with a roll of his eyes. "We have to get rid of those barnacles."

"Why?" He asked in annoyance.

Rodney groaned, looking up at him. "Because the Big E said so, now stop "complaining" and be quiet."

"Why?"

"Be quiet already, I don't know why. Ask him." He said with another groan.

About 5 hours later, the workers removed the walkways and ladders and exited the dry dock. Soon after pumps started to force clean water and a special mix of chemicals to remove the rest of the barnacles. The ratio of chemicals to water was very low, because the young aircraft carrier was still growing so his outer shell was still fairly thin and vulnerable. The older carriers didn't need to have the barnacles scraped off manually, they're shells were thicker and much harder, so they could use more of the chemical without it leaving painful burns.

Dwight gagged and glared the trucks, he _really _hated the smell of the chemical.

"Oh don't make such a big fuss. It's not that bad."

Dwight looked up as his mentor pulled up along the side of the dry dock. His tutor smiled down at him. The young carrier groaned, and sulked quietly. "It stinks, and I want out."

"It's only two hours." He said rolling his eyes. "I have to stay for six, you should feel lucky."

"You're kidding." He said whined. Great, that was something to look forward too.

"I'm not." He said.

Dwight exhaled and shifted in the water mix, looking around, he looked at his mentor than at the "water". "I'm bored."

The Enterprise snorted, giving him a sideways glance. "Study."

"Awwwww, come on! Tides and war maneuvers are boring too!" He whined, looking at the larger carrier with pleading eyes. Just like most little kids, he hated studying. "Plus, it's not like memorizing stupid history facts is going to save my life…. All those boat are dead now anyway." He said.

(CV-6) let out a snort, giving the younger carrier a hard look. "Know your history, to avoid making the mistakes of the past, kid." He said. "We should all learn from our history."

Dwight looked at the water, he didn't have a good argument against that.

"Now, when was the HMS Ark Royal first commissioned?" He asked, giving him a look.

The smaller ship swallowed, and tried to come up with a date. "September 5th 1914?" He asked, hoping that he was right.

"No, that's his launch date." He said.

"Ummmm….. December 1st 1914?" He guessed.

"December 10th 1914." The Enterprise corrected. "Who was the first US Carrier?" He asked.

"USS Langley." Dwight said confidently, he knew that one well.

The Enterprise made a soft snort of agreement. "Now, name the five major ocean gyres."

"North Pacific…..North Atlantic…" He whined softly, the other three were evading him. "South Pacific?"

The larger carrier glanced down at him. "You didn't study last night did you?" He asked, giving his student a stern look. "But those three are correct, you're missing two more."

Dwight "Yorkie" Flysenhower swallowed nervously. "I did study! Just not the gyres…. I was catching up on maritime laws and regulations…"

"Because you didn't study that _last night._" He said. "You're lucky, I had to study for three and half hours, an hour before bedtime is nothing."

"But-"

"No buts, we made a deal didn't we?"

"Yes…"

"Well, than, before you go to bed, we're going to be studying, and we will do that tomorrow too. Not just an hour." He said strictly. "Now, what are the other two?"

Dwight whined softly, than racked his brain for the other two. "Ummm… South Atlantic and Indian Ocean?"

"Correct." He said. "Who made the first carrier landing?"

Dwight looked at his reflection in the water and whined. This was going to be a longer two hours.


	10. Dragon's Fire

_First half of it is a bit of a vent fic, because these last three weeks nearly drove me insane. -_- _

_It seems for the last three weeks everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, or maybe I'm just extra irritable lately. It seem every little thing is working to gather to make life more difficult than it needs to be. The only real highlight? Got a new cat. His names__is Maverick, guess where the name came from, you get an internet cookie!_

* * *

><p>There are days when angering the massive gray aircraft carrier was better than others. Some days, if he was in a good mood, he tended to let you off easy, depending on the severity of the problem. On normal days, he'd give you a stern talking, and maybe a few more hours of cleaning duties, or other undesirable "chores". If he was in already a little angry, it was wise to stay out of trouble, but for those who did get in to a tight spot, one could expect a lengthy, <em>vary<em> strict talking too, and around a weeks' worth of unpleasant chores. Sometimes more for those unlucky enough. But for those days when he was already fuming beyond belief, getting on his bad side was to be avoid at all costs.

Today was one of those later days.

The USS Solstice shadowed the Flysenhower from a sensible distance, making sure to not further annoy the carrier. His mood really reflected that of the crew, and that of the whole fleet. When he was angry, they were either mad with him, or staying out of trouble to avoid any unnecessary problems.

Hammerhead was deep under water, safely out of sight. He had been under all morning, with little contact with the surface ships. Just enough to keep them updated, but much less than normal. No jokes were coming over the radio. No "I saw a whale!" or "There's a giant pacific octopus stuck to face!" came from the deep blue.

Seaclutch was almost dead silent, he was farthest out from the fleet. And for a good reason, the young ship was pretty frightened by the Flysenhower under these conditions, and at this point being out of visual range allowed him to relax enough to keep his mind on more important things.

Kip was staring wordlessly at the water in front of him. He had gotten chastised twice already today, and was trying his hardest to avoid another confrontation. When he did speak his voice was uncharacteristically quiet. His sentences were short and clipped.

Nike was also quiet but that wasn't anything unusual. He seemed the least worried about the Flysenhower's mood, he continued on his normal routine.

Solstice sighed, and shook away her thoughts. The whole bad mood problem was a partly their fault, or at least she thought it was... Who knew what had happened between the ship and his superiors, but she had a feeling it was nothing good.

All the sudden, "Buster" sent out a message. "There's an unidentified ship on my radar, sir." He said, hoping that the Flysenhower believed in "Not shooting the messenger".

"Go intercept them, I will scramble fighters out as well."

"Sir?" He asked quietly.

"Yes?"

Buster opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again. He looked away, not meeting his gaze. "Never mind sir… It's stupid- I mean… I didn't… I won't bother you."

Surprised by his reaction, the colossal vessel's gaze softened. "You're not bothering me.

"Ugh… I just- I mean- I just- I want to know- if- ….. Why were you so angry? Ugh… so I uhhh.., I'm sorry…. Sir I didn't mean… Well- I did- but-" He stammered.

"I'm not angry at you, not at all." He said, turning his attention to the crew for a moment to make sure all was well before turning back to the younger ship. "Why I'm angry though, I can't tell you… Not yet at least." He made a sort of huffing noise like that of an irritated wild mustang, _or maybe a sea lion…. "_Alright, now go and intercept them, but hold your fire. Contact them before you approach, keep me updated."

Buster nodded quickly, not wanting to cause too much commotion. _He may not be angry at me now, but that might not be for long unless I get over there and do my job…._

Quickly he turned and steamed full speed for the intruder.

**_Several Hours Later:_**

Dwight Flysenhower watched as their Mysterious Intruder disappear of radar. It had turned out that they're visitor was just a crab fishing boat who had lost his navigation and communications instruments in a recent storm. Two of Seaclutch's mechanics had helped repair them than sent him home. _Could have been worse, could have been a threat._ He reminded himself.

He looked at his fleet.

Seaclutch was nothing more than the tiniest speck on the horizon in front of him. Hammerhead was somewhere behind him, not more than a 100 feet below the surface. Solstice was not far off to port, and Nike was to his Starboard. Kip was farthest out in front, far enough he couldn't be seen, even with binoculars.

They were all doing more than what was asked of them, each worked like support beam, without even one of them the structure of the fleet was weakened. But together they could stand up against anything.

It seemed he owed them all an apology.


	11. The Halloween Party part 1

_I decided it was time to bring in more characters. I extra came up with 190 call signs…. 190! Just for you all to have more characters to choose from…. :D and to remember. I am evil aren't I? You might not even ever meet them all._

_Anyway, happy late Halloween. Here's part one of my Halloween fic. Look out for more later!  
><em>

* * *

><p>"I can't believe you actually went through with that."<p>

"Neither can I."

Echo and Bravo bursted out in laughter, joined soon after by Techno, Rat, Zebra, Hydra, Cosmos and Ryder. The fleet was in dock until the end of the week, as the crew switch was taking place, and next crew prepared for coming six months at sea. It was Halloween, and they were all throwing a party.

The party was a meant for the family of those who served on the fleet, and naturally it got a little crazy.

Like any good Halloween party, most were dressed up in costumes. And costumes were the object of interest in this particular conversation. More specifically, they're Admiral's costume.

He had multiple sandy colored tarps draped over his flight deck, and a mass of tropical reefs painted on his sides. His tower had been turned in to a giant palm tree.

In most part, the costume was the fault of a certain 10 year old Nuclear Carrier with a fondness for tropical places and embarrassing his soon to be mentor.

The ship in question was tucked against they're resident "Floating Magical Tropical Island" and grinning wildly. The USS Enterprise, or more often called "The Little E." was Dwight's successor, and soon to be apprentice. Named after the long line of Enterprises.

Dwight Flysenhower let out a sighed and looked around the small dock where the party was being held. Normally this part of the dock was of limits to most, but today it had been converted in to a Halloween Spooky House Party. Slowly the crew and their families were arriving, mingling around, eating and talking.

Echo's grin widened when he spotted a bright red Crop Duster and an old Corsair weave they're way through the crowd.

"I was wondering if you were going to come." Bravo said.  
>Dusty Crophopper smiled, looking around. "I wouldn't miss it." The racer, and now part time fire fighter was dressed as a Candy Corn. Skipper on the other hand, was without a costume.<p>

Echo smiled. "Hey Dusty, Skip, have we introduced you to Whole Jolly Wrenches squadron yet?" He asked.

The world ramus racer looked at the new faces and shook his head. "No, not all of them."

Bravo smiled. "Well, then we better get started."

Echo nodded and looked around the small group. "The one with the Jellyfish on his helmet, or better said the one with the Jellyfish costume is Hydra. We call him that because he got stung by a Jelly in training. How that happened I'm still not entirely sure."

Skipper frowned and inspected the chuckling brute of a fighter jet. "You were stung by a Hydra?" He asked.

The jet shook his head. "No, but it sounded better than "Lions mane, that just doesn't have a real great ring to it."

Bravo nodded. "Than the one who's dressed up like a laptop, that's Techno. He's a computer wiz."

Unlike Hydra, Techno was quite small and fragile looking, as if a small breeze could knock him out of the sky. But Skipper knew better than to believe he was as fragile as he looked.

"You've already met Rat and Zebra…" Echo said.

The two were dressed as they're Call Signs would suggest, they nodded to Dusty before returning to their own conversation.

"Then we have Cosmos, the one dressed like a space shuttle. He tends to stair off in to empty space…. As you can see here." Bravo said, before giving the jet a soft, but firm smack with his wing.

"Ugh?" Cosmos said, blinking to clear his vison. "What?"

"Nothing," Echo said, shaking his head and chuckling. "Just making sure you weren't sleeping."

Bravo turned to the other jet, a girl with deep brown eyes. "And that's Ryder. She's the one dressed like Indiana Jones."

The jet in question was chasing a little tomcat fighter jet, who looked like he was around 8 years old around. He was dressed like a pirate.

As the day drew on, Dusty was introduced to a whole cast of characters, from the extra friendly Cookie, to the quiet and shy Juniper. He'd also met Python, Nitro, Sonar, Pyro, and Boomer.

He looked around at the lively faces of jets, forklifts and many others and smiled. This party was going to be fun.

* * *

><p><em>*Cough, Cough* Blame the sugar.<br>_


	12. Tony the Warship

_I WILL finish the Halloween stories, but first I thought I'd post a requested chapter, that if you (my wonderful readers) enjoy/are interested in, I might make it a double chapter. In there, more information will be given, but we'll see if it gets there._

_Also, look forward to chapter coming soon about Dusty. _

_Also, I have made some mistakes in this chapter, and not just grammar or spelling. Notice a problem? Let me know!_

* * *

><p>Tony woke up that morning feeling quite smug, and ready to take on anything, and everything. This feeling lasted through the morning, and soared after winning several verbal arguments, and spending the afternoon terrorizing numerous fishing boats. It was fun really, chasing them around, showing of his powerful weapons.<p>

None of them ever bothered to confront him, which was nice.

They all mistook him for a US Navy warship, and even if they didn't, no-one bothered to question his motives, back up or authenticity; it's hard to be brave when you're unarmed, and facing down a fully armed destroyer.

It was a great way to imitate others too, because no one wanted any trouble with the US Navy. And hey, if he accidentally started a war, that certainly wasn't his problem! He could do anything he wanted out here, with the perfect cover, enough weapons to last months at sea, and a few friends to back him up. Heck, if any other ship got even remotely close to the oil platforms, he could just claim that they were entering restricted US waters. None of those fishing morons could tell the difference anyway.

The one thing this "seamless plan" didn't take in to consideration was a run in with said Navy.

It started just like any other evening, and almost every other patrol, but that was to be expected. Very few ships ever came out this far; a few science vessels, lost cargo ships, the annoying persistent fishers, and occasionally a seriously off course sail boat. Sadly, not many cute Yachts ever made it this far out, the one thing he missed about his old home. It got awfully lonely out in the open ocean.

He was just about to turn around when he spotted a blip on his radar screen. "Perfect, another target!"

This excitement continued to grow as he made his way to his new target. The sky now was slowly darkening the sun sinking behind him and casting an eerie glow over the waves.

He hated this time day, when the sun had not sunk but the twilight sky was already dark, when even the waves cast shadows. This was the time of illusions, something as simple as a leaping dolphin could look like a threat, and a threat could be disguised as a harmless humpback whale, just by the trick of the light.

So, when he saw a black object at the corner of his vison, he opted to ignore it. Still, he felt like was being watched. Tony turned to look, to make certain that it in fact was just a piece of large driftwood like he had promised himself. But that stage black object had disappeared, leaving only ripples in its wake.

He heard the sound of thunder, or maybe jet engines?

He looked around quickly, but nothing seemed to show it's self on his radar. Interesting, it seemed so quiet out here… suspiciously quiet, and any noise that did occur seemed unnatural. Was he being watched by enemy aircraft?

He had only been a couple of months ago when a pesky private jet had been skittering around they're perimeter. One of those pesky British spy planes, he had disappeared after an hour or so. It had turned out that he had dropped of a spy, than left.

At least the second time, the next spy had been smart enough to approach by the water, though how he had gotten past the boundary, was still a mystery.

He shifted, he had been staring at the spot for a while now, lost in thought. He shook his bow and turned away, keeping a wary eye on the horizon. The waves had quickly dispersed any evidence of what he had seen.

He sighed, he had received damage after half falling, and half crashing from the lifts along the platform, and no one here knew how to fix his damaged equipment.

Of course this meant he no longer knew what was under the water, he found himself once again worried, and possibly a little frightened. Although he would never admit it.

He hated that.

After a long heavy sigh, he decided not to dwell on it, for all he knew it could have just been an orca, or an albatross.

Just as he turned around a voice startled him over his communications link. _*Identify you're self, this is the US Navy! Identify yourself or we will fire!*_

"US Navy?" He asked bitterly.

"Nooo, Tony we're aliens we just call ourselves the US Navy." A voice said, behind him now, it sounded just as bitter. He knew that voice all too well.

He turned around and growled. "Hammerhead, long time no see."

The submarine glared at him darkly, "I was hoping for longer."

"So was I."

He rose farther out the water, and Tony began to feel uncomfortable. It was rare for a submarine to come out of the water, and speak to a surface enemy face to face, and he had a feeling Hammerhead was only doing this for one reason… he had back up.

"What are you doing out here, you of all ships should know better! If you want to stay off the radar; stay away from fleet defenses."  
>Tony struggled to come up with an excuse. He couldn't give away his post. "Yeah, but fleets move, I didn't know you and you're little pack of patriotic metal trash cans were stopping by."<p>

"What are you doing here, Tony?"

He sighed. _Persistent bugger._ "I'm just here by accident, I'll be out of your way soon enough." He said

Hammerhead growled deeply, water around him vibrated, and Tony felt bad for his crew. Another down side of working with a submarine. "That's what I'm worried about."

"Let me guess, you're boss as stuck a whole air wing's worth of fighters jets on me, and I have about 25 minutes left to live."

"No… you're lucky. My boss want to talk to you. Personally, face to face. He's also got some friends who want to meet you too, and a whole bunch of high ranking Admirals who want to have a word with you."

"Let me guess, I'm a traitor."

"Yes, we'll be escorting to United States waters. He also have some explaining to do, and depending on what you say you'll probably be arrested, or court marshaled or something. I don't know what they have planned for you-"

He snarled, but didn't draw his weapons, if he did he'd be dead before he used them.  
>He just growled.<p>

"'But that's not for me say but I suggest you disable you're weapons. The boss is coming, and if you so much as twitch suspiciously, Kip will blow you smithereens and this whole problem will be solved in half a second."

"Kip's here too?"

"No s-"

_*He is, but he's the least of your worries Mr. Trihull.*_

Tony swallowed, and turned around again, a massive aircraft carrier plowing through water toward him, airplanes flew around them. Two helicopters flew next to him, along with a squadron of fighter planes, and a helicopter with a boarding crew.

It was a sight to behold though; the colossal ship was nothing but a shadow as the moon rose just behind him, like a spot light. His outline only visible against the full moon's bright glow. He couldn't even see his face.

_*Make yourself comfortable Mr. Trihull, we have a lot to discuss.*_


	13. The Halloween Party Part 2

_I am soooo sorry that it took this long to update. I have no excuse._

_On another note, TLWSOAC now has a tumblr blog, where I will be posting all sorts of fun stuff. I'll be posting notices on new chapters and story updates, doing some asks for in story characters like Dragonbane, posting doodles and artwork, as well as occasionally posting character introductions and taking polls and maybe holding a contest or two at some point. (most will just be naming contests) I will also post a few headcanons for the universe in which TLWSOAC takes place in, if you're interested in that._

Dusty Crophopper had never been very good at dodge ball. He had a weak throw and an embarrassingly weak aim. Sure, crop dusting and firefighter was one thing, but throwing was a whole different ball game.

Luckily he was small and quick, easily able to duck around his team mates, and his tendency to panic at the sight of a spherical projectile in motion made avoiding collisions with them easier. He would shy away from any ball that his mind preserved as a threat to his well being (which was any ball that had a trajectory that brought it a even remotely close to him. And some that were going the complete opposite direction.)

Another plus had been that no one ever really aimed at him specifically, no one had ever perceived him as a threat. He had stayed quiet and in the back and collecting the balls; but now here he was a prime target and if it hadn't been for Pyro shoving him out of the way at the last moment, he would have been out of the game long ago.

Before the game began, Bravo had warned him that the Wildcats would try and pick out the weakest first, and that he would be a prime target.

One of the Wildcats smirked at Bravo as they lined up by the water's edge. The Wrenches had their backs to water, while their adversaries had their backs to a large concrete building, meaning the Wrenches had to retrieve their balls from the water if they were thrown too far.

"Thank Goodness for Sea Kings hu? Wouldn't want you boys to get soaked trying to get our ammunition." He teased.

The two groups had a friendly rivalry ever since they had been stationed aboard the same carrier, and now it was a chance to prove who was the biggest and baddest fighters on the Flysenhower.

Echo growled, his lips curling back to reveal a set of sharp, pearly white teeth. "Thank goodness that building is made concrete, we would hate it if it collapsed on top of you, Bearcat."

A group of forklifts and helios set the large, brightly colored dodgeballs along the center line, made up by the meeting point between sand and pavement.

There was a loud whistle, as the Flysenhower pulled everyone's attention in, allowing Nike to speak. "Alright everyone. We all know the rules, but I'm going to say them again anyway. No headshots, if you hit someone in the head, you're automatically out. If they catch the ball you threw, you're out. If you're hit with the ball, you're out. If you're out, you go to the side lines and wait until someone catches a ball on your team, than the first in line can return to the game. No crossing the center line, need I continue?"

The players shook their heads, they knew the rules.

He nodded, his bow bobbing in the water. "Than let the game begin!"

All at once, the two rival squadrons charged forward and hoarded as many of the rounded foam balls as they could before retreating to a safe distance. Dusty ignored the center line and stayed back, his landing gear only a few feet from the water's edge. He was not going to put himself in the front. Not if he wanted to make it through the first minute.

A large, high speed vollyball turned deadly projectile soared over his canopy and just barely missed his tail, instead smashing into a Sea King helicopter in the water behind him. That was quick.

He glanced at the front line. Echo was already in the eye of the storm, using his jaws to toss the ball into the air, before smacking it with his wing, sending it hurtling into the opposing squadron.

He caught Bravo out of the corner of his eye, leaping into the air higher than the cropduster thought was possible. His prop spun quickly as he dove out of the way as a second ball flew over him and slammed into Rat's tail. He was out. First Casualty

Next to him Zebra drop kicked another ball, sending it soaring into the ranks of their opponents.

Across from the "battlefield" a large male fighter was struck in the wing. He growled and trudged out of the court. Dusty didn't have time to check the Hornet for a name as he picked up a ball in his jaws.

Dusty dodged a third ball while Zebra was struck out beside him, muttering under her breath as she went and flopped down in the out zone.

He glanced to his left to see Zap defenseless. "Need a ball?" He asked tossing the ball over to him. He caught it and nodded in thanks, squirming his way past Cosmos' wing to send a volley over the line.

Near the left flank Echo leaped into the air, narrowly missing being downed, unfortunately a sleek, silver jet, who Dusty had been introduced too as Jewel was struck in the wing by the same ball Echo had so dearly missed, she slipped off the court and settled down by her comrades.

The Wildcats launched a coordinated rain of spherical projectiles, they had been gathering up. It managed to strike out Echo, and the small gray fighter Pluto, and Cosmos with scary accuracy. One ball slammed down to the ground inches from Dusty's nose.

In return, a large, gray eyed fighter who looked like a crossbreed between a A-10 Thunderbolt and a Super Hornet as well as a slightly smaller fighter sent a counter volley of volleyballs over the line. Two of the "Enemy" fell under a shower of white rubber. He managed to catch at least one name, Tabby. Dusty eventually recognized the larger Wrench as Theta, he had greeted them when they had arrived at the party.

As the game went on, Techno was quickly struck out and Bravo was eliminated after Bearcat had caught the ball in his jaws.

Ryder was removed after a blow to the head, her counterpart trudged to the sidelines with a huff. Headshots = Timeout

Dusty spared a glance Skipper's direction. The old Corsair was watching the game with Sparky at his side, the small forklift had arrived late.

Pain flowered on his tail as a small, bright red ball bounce down to the ground, rolling lazily away into the sand. He looked up to see a Wildcat with a completely black helmet grinning back at him.

He sighed and taxied to the stands, dodging a stray ball on his way. He came to a stop next to Skipper. "Hey Skip..." He said sheepishly.

It was beginning to looked as if the Wildcats would win as Echo paced the sidelines, the red helmet hornet muttered under his breath as Sonar joined them.

Jewel slipped back into the game as someone - Echo hadn't been paying attention- caught a ball from a Wild cat lob.

Slowly the remaining wrenches began to pick off the planes left in the opposites forces. Rat caught a ball in his jaws, and Echo bolted out onto the field, snatching a ball from the ground and drop kicking it into someone's tail.

_Ha! Got Bearcat!_

Echo took in the Wildcats remaining numbers; Six in total; Leo, Tiger, Tux, Mittens, the newbie who's name he could never remember, and his long time rival. Striker.

He picked up another ball from his side and slid out of the way of an incoming projectile.

The tossed, smacking the distracted Striker in the vertical stabilizer with a loud clang.

Next to him Jewel and Mittens struck each other out at the exact same time

The newbie was downed by an impressive launch by Hydra, but not before taking Kyt with him.

Tiger and Tux were struck out after being bombarded by Surge and Rat. Only Leo was left. There was a yelp as Surge was struck in the landing gear.

Next to him Theta used a very impressive barrel and a wing to smack the last plane squarely in the landing gear, and ended the game in the Jolly Wrenches' favor.

"Victory!" Echo shouted, joined in by an excited whoops and hollers.

He could have sworn Striker hissed at him.

Meanwhile, some miles out of Snowquire a small gang of rebel shiplings were making their way through the cold choppy seas, huddle together, a childish determination plaster on their faces like paper mache masks. They had snuck out out unnoticed and were on a mission of their own: to track down an old wrecked naval base long since abandoned.

Enterprise was leading the expedition, followed by the destroyer Dakota and the 4th generation WWII battleship Cyclone.

Trailing behind them submarine Typhoon was off on his own while the Guided Missile Cruiser Kodiak, was practically dragging Dixon, a combat support ship by the deck.

Dixon shifted, yaking his deck out of Kodiak's jaws. He glanced in Enterprise's direction than at Dakota next to him. "Where's he heading?"

"I don't think even he knows." She answered with a roll of her eyes.

Typhoon surfaced and glared at the Little E and snorted. "Are we there yet?"

"No... almost. I think."

"Do you even know where you're going?" Cyclone asked with a grumble," 'Cause I don't think you do."

The flattop turned around growling. "I know where I'm going!"

Kodiak frowned. "I told you, you should have let me take that map."

Several minutes later Enterprise's small bow finally peaked around the end of a large island, leaving the the massive abandoned naval base in plain sight. A huge gate guarded the island, while a sub net and a string of buoys guarded the only water based opening.

The place was rusted out, falling buildings, old faded paint and an eerie, endless creaking. Moss and grasses grew wild among the once mighty buildings, vines growing down the sides of columns and windows. Light fixtures hung from the ceilings, scraping the floor, as they bobbed in the wind. Broken wires waved as rain dripped through missing roofs and broken windows.

Kodiak swallowed nervously. "Wow, that's..."

"Scary?" Cyclone teased, prodding the cruiser with his bow.

Kodiak shook his bow and glared at him. "No! It's... old... really old..."

Dixon looked around, the bay than steamed his way past Enterprise, closing the space between the net and himself. "You think it's safe?" He asked.

Cyclone frowned, his little eyebrows making a very dramatic V shape. "We won't find out unless we check it out."

This earned a loud snort from Typhoon. "I really don't think this is a good idea."

Enterprise turned around to confront the submarine. "No one said we couldn't."

"No one said we could either."

"Wimp."

Typhoon growled softly, but backed down. His pride was stronger than his common sense, he wasn't going to admit he was afraid.

Kodiak looked around. "Is there a way in?"

"Yup! Found it!" Dakota shouted, grinning at them from the other side of the net. "It's right here! Though Enty might be a little too fat to fit though."

"Hey!"

Slowly, carefully the small group made their way past the net and into the harbor.

Typhoon swallowed nervously. "This- this place doesn't look safe." He disappeared under the waves, only to be picked up by Cyclone's powerful jaws.

"You're not going anywhere, shrimpy."

Typhoon growled. "Put me down!"

There was a groan as Dakota turned around, putting on her serious face, causing Kodiak to stifle a laugh. "Drop him." She ordered.

"Make me." He growled

Just as the destroyer lurched forward to ram her sharp bow into the the battleship's side, Dixon got between them. "Hey! Knock it off, _you don't want to disturb the ghost ships do you?"_ He whispered, causing Cyclone to drop the small sub back into the water.

"I don't believe in ghosts."

"You will soon enough." He chuckled darkly, doing his best horror movie voice.

Farther ahead Enterprise turned around and groaned. "Come on! Let's explore this place before they find out we're missing!"

"Coming, coming, gezze, don't get your prop in a twist..." Kodiak muttered, speeding up to catch up, the others following right behind.

Old, rusty dry docks sat, half submerged to the their right, while tall weathered buildings sat eerily still. There was a loud, sudden creak as something fell from the roof a dry dock and clattered onto an exposed section of a steel beam, startling the young shiplings. It teetered on the edge for a moment before falling into the water with a splash.

"Why do things always fall when there are vehicles around?" Dakota asked thoughtfully, moving closer to look at the ripples. "In the movies, something always falls when someone is nearby, yet if things fell that frequently when no one was around to see it the place would have collapsed years ago."

"Ghosts?" Dixon offered. "Evil Spirits?"

She just rolled her eyes.

"I say we split up here." Enterprise said, ignoring the damaged docks and looking around.

"What?!" Typhoon yelped. "Why?"

"That way, the six of us can split into three teams of two, and cover more ground." Dakota said, "Great plan."  
>"I could have explained myself." He protested.<p>

"I save you the breath."

"You'll need it." Dixon piped in.

"I call Dixon as my partner." Kodiak said, grinning wildly.

"I'll go with Typhoon."

"That leaves Cyclone and you." Dakota said, nudging Enterprise.

He nodded. "We'll head to the old light house."

"We'll take the center." Dixon offered.

"Than leaves us with the right side." The destroyer said cheerfully.

"Joy" said the submarine.


	14. The Halloween Party part 3

_Well, this chapter is well overdue. I may or may not rewrite this chapter later, that last part doesn't sound quite right. _

_At the rate this mini story is going, I may need one more chapter, or two more but that should be it. After that I need to get around to working on a request I got on TLWSOAC's tumblr page a while back. I'm so sorry who ever that was. I have not forgotten you._

"Hey, where'd the miscreants go?"

Dwight D. Flysenhower couldn't help but let out a weary sigh, looking up from his game of cards to glance questioningly at Kip. The party was dying down and the adults with children had long since left leaving the remaining crew members, (those who had to clean the mess up once everyone else had left) to come up with any form of entertainment they could. Hammerhead had suggested several questionable ideas, but it had eventually landed somewhat comfortable at a quick game of war until someone got bored.

"They're probably eating candy and listening to Ol' Harbinger's ghost stories."

"I'd like to think so Hammerhead, but I'm not going to risk them taking off, you know how-"

"Maybe we should give 'em a chance," Solstice offered, stretching in the water to release pent up pressure on her main support beam. "They're old enough to wander the harbor."

The massive supercarrier turned out to the harbor with a heavy exhale. "I'll go find them, I should have done so much earlier and it's best I get them to bed.." He passed his cards to Solstice (she'd opted to watch for that round), and began a course to the young shiplings' favorite hangouts.

His first stop was the old, long-since abandoned dock, rotting away at the far end of the harbor. The friends met there every friday after their classes to play games and formulate their pranks.

The dock was empty, aside from seagulls and a lonely crow picking through the tidelines for small insects and clams. No sign of the kids.

He kept steady on his course careful not to scrape against the decaying wood. The days where he could maneuver through the harbor among the many other boats and ships with ease were long gone.

This next stop was the old drydock belonging to the USS Harbinger. The old, fading gray paint was flaking, but big dock was in otherwise good condition for it's age. Much like it's owner.

He used his bow to knock on the dry dock's floodgate doors.

By now the moon was rising and clouds were slowly sneaking into the sky. It was about time the rest of the party guests to be chased home, and the cleaning to begin.

The doors slid open, creating a mesmerizing glitter to dance upon the waves in the fading evening light.

Harbinger was an aging, long retired escort carrier, less than half the Flysenhower's length and size. During his glory days he'd carried about half the number of aircraft than what most standard carriers did, earning a scoff from some of their "standard" brethren.

But the Nimitz Class Supercarrier knew better. Even today, Harbinger quick and precise able to get to places the larger ships could not.

"Dwight, what can I do for you?" Harbinger asked, giving him a warm smile.

_Smile, act normal. Ignore the fact you're asking your girlfriend's "father" if he's seen your kid. _

"Do you know where Enterprise and the ravenous pack of shiplings are? I want to get them home before it gets too late."

The older warship shook his bow the best a ship can do. "They were here about two, two and a half hours ago, ...said they were going to get you to take them to Coast Guard Station to see some sort of "Haunted House"."

Dwight frowned, glancing around to the other end of the harbor. "Thank you, I'll go ask around."

Much to his surprise, Harbinger pulled out from the dry dock he shared with his wife  
>"Coconut" a Haven Class Hospital Ship. "I will accompany you then, I should have over seen their safe return before this ever became an issue."<p>

The larger flattop nodded in thanks, turning back into the main waters of Snowquire harbor. "Don't worry about it," he offered. "It's not your fault, they most likely just went off to visit a friend. They are old enough to explore the harbor without constant surveillance."

The Nightwatch Class Light Carrier sailed next to him, his engine rumbling softly, not responding verbally. No need to.

An hour of searching turned to two, now with the help of some of his crew still no sign of the shiplings.

"I think they left." Solstice said as the two carriers returned.

"I've already alerted the others, if they are within harbor boundaries they will be found." Dwight said, exasperated. "But I agree with Solstice, it's best we take to open waters. This is not the first time they have slipped out unnoticed."

Nike turned to Harbinger. "What stories did you tell them? If you don't mind me asking."

"The story of Bikini Atoll, the Hunt for the Battleship Bismarck, then Dakota asked about the Edmund Fitzgerald..."

"Anything else?" Buster asked, twitching.

"Let me finish," He growled, not a threat but still showing he was not amused with the young ships impatient inquiries. "I also told them of the old harbor by White Seal Island."

"That's close to here," Kip offered.

The Flysenhower nodded. "Then they might have chosen to explore there."

"I will go and see if I can locate them. If I can't find them there, I will have to call in a full scale search. Chrysler help us if they strayed into someone else's waters." The Flysenhower said with a tired huff.

"Should I call the Coast Guard? Ask for some help?" Dragonbane asked, finally breaking her long held silence.

"Not yet, but I'd appreciate it if you asked around, perhaps you can invite some of our Sea Kings to help in the search. There's no need to alert the USCG just yet." The large carrier said, glancing around at the gathered ships. "I'll head out to Lynx Point Naval Base to search there, some of us best stay behind. Harbinger, if you wish you can join me, seeing as you were stationed there. Solstice you stay here with Kip, I'll take Nike and any remaining members of my crew who wish to participate. Buster, I want you to look around the perimeter as soon as we arrive. Someone also needs to connect the shipling's parents. Also, Kip? Ask Enterprise if he can assist us."

"The big one?" Hammerhead snickered

"No, the Space Shuttle, you bolts-for-brains." Kip muttered

"Who knows? We could really use a GPS satellite right about now." Was the submarines only response before submerging.

Passed the white capped waves, and in the relative safety of the sheltered harbor, the team of six young shiplings had parted ways and dispersed throughout the rotting complex to seek anything paranormal or even mildly intriguing.

In the main body of the sprawling port, Dixon and Kodiak were sticking their bows into any abandoned building on the water, old dry dock, repair dock, and canal they were small enough to fit into.

One drydock was of particular interest, and warranted a closer look.

Careful not to touch anything, the two young ships were picking through the outside of the dock, looking for anything out of the ordinary, nothing stood out. Aside from the unusually feeling of static on their metal plating. There couldn't be an electricity here after all these years? Could there?

A few minutes later, Dixon had found a way to pry open the doors with a metal bar. He wedged the sharp end in, sinking his teeth into the other side, and trying to force the rusted shut doors apart.

Next to him, Kodiak was busy trying to find a window low enough for him to look into.

With a deafening screech the doors were forced open just far enough for the two young combat ships to enter. Once inside they began their search anew.

The hanger was old and badly rusted, parts of the ceiling hung down like demented chandeliers and condensed droplets splashed rhythmically into the ocean waters below. Grasses had found footholds in cracks and vines had already overtaken the back wall. How the seeds had gotten there to begin with was beyond comprehension for the youngsters.

Dixon inspected the walls and the ship designed shelves. All dusty and filled with spiderwebs, though their architects were nowhere in sight. But on a single shelf was a book, old and dusty but still in good shape. Covered in a red binding, it had no title or author visible.

"Hey, Kodi, come check this out! Found an old book!"

The other ship made his way to his side, and gave the book a look over. "What do you think it's about?"

No response.

"Maybe it's a diary."

Kodiak moved closer and tried to reach out for the book, picking it up in his jaws, giving it a light shake to clear the dust. He tossed it into the air and it came down on his deck. "There."

"You sure you should take it? I mean... it's been here a long time..."

. "It's fine, I'll bring it back."

Kodiak turned and went to the other side again to continue his explore his side, tugging at loose metal beams when he found them just to see if they were attached to anything anymore. Most were just laying in the water, having fallen from the roof.

Dixon hesitated a moment before turning back to the shelf.

As he browsed the walls, Kodiak found another metal bar that he promptly tugged on.

Big mistake.

With a ear shattering screech the bar came loose, and the ceiling began to shift. "DIXON! The ceiling's gonna fall!"

"Get outside!"

Both pups raced for the door, but before they could make it outside the doors buckled and crumpled, crush like tins cans under the sheer weight of the support structure of the domed metal roof, all the while let out a sound worse than metal on chalkboard, sending chills down the shipling's spines.

"We're trapped!"

Dixon's eyes locked on the very center of the ceiling, where the largest beam was beginning to show signs of caving in. "We need to get to the side! If we stay here we'll be even more trapped!" Or worse.

Dixon shoved the larger ship against the wall, just in time for his worst fears to come crashing down, creating a wave large enough for the pups to be completely swallowed in, showering their decks in algae and seaweed among other things. If they hadn't been screaming for help, they both may have found some humor in the equally frightened crab, stuttering around Kodiak's deck.

Just as one nightmare ended, another began as all four walls came crashing down, muffling the pups howls for help. Now only faint patches of moonlight were able to reach them, as it seemed the walls had crumbled in surprisingly few pieces and come to rest on the half submerged main beam.

Neither pup so much as flinched until the worst of the groaning had stopped.

"Is it over?"

"I don't know.."

There was little room for movement as they struggled for some measure of space. If the "ceiling" dropped any lower, both pups would be trapped under the water, and would certainly drown.

Gingerly they prodded the walls of their confinement, but there were no chances of escape now.

"What do we do?"

"I- I don't know-" Dixon teared up, nudging the walls in a last, desperate attempt to find an opening. Nothing.

"If we yell for help, no one will hear us will they?"

"The others might..."

"If we don't get to the rendezvous point in an hour, they'll know we're in trouble.. maybe they'll come looking for us! Or- maybe they heard the crash!"

"Than what? If we can't move this stuff, they can't either!"

Dixon swallowed the lump in his throat and whimpered. "They can get help, I'm sure our parents know we're gone by now..."

A creak from the ceiling brought any further conversation to an end, as the shiplings immediately bolted to either other's sides, and waited, hoping that someone would come and rescue them.

"Are you scared?"

"Yeah..."

"Me too..."

"Did you hear that?"

Kodiak nodded, flinched at the loud piercing screech that followed, scooting closer to Dixon for what little comfort they could get from knowing they were not alone. The next wail of ripping metal sent both pup's to the other end of their confinement space as a large, steel beam slid from its perch and lodged itself into a rotting wooden shelf with enough force to rattle the entire wall.

"LOOK OUT!"

In a quick thinking move, Dixon smashed his bow into Kodiak's hull, forcing the larger shipling against the opposite wall just in time to protect him from the next shower of metal debris, but Dixon was not as lucky. Rocked by the force of several tons of steel and rotting roofing buried the young ship's deck, forcing his entire body several feet into the water, way above his natural waterline.

Not to mention-

"Dixon- Don't move!" Kodiak ignored the awful screeching, as he took his turn to care for his friend. If only he knew what to do...

Unbenounced to young Dixon, one of the metal beams had pierced his deck and gotten itself lodged in vital wiring that control his steering, leaving him immobile but in no pain.. at least not yet.

Kodiak of course didn't know that, but something was coming back to him, something old Coconut had once told him after his big sister had gotten herself impaled by a sharp rock, chasing him through the family residences.

_Don't let her see the wound, keep her busy, as long as she dosen't know what's happened, she will not panic, child. _

"Stay still, Dix... You're- hurt.. It- doesn't look too bad.. you're not losing any oil..."

"WHAT?!" The younger pup squirmed and tried to twist his body to see the wound, earning the exact reaction he was hoping to avoid.

"STAY STILL!" A sharp, but gentle nudge that kept the wounded support ship from squirming anymore. "Please. Don't look. Okay? Just trust me? I won't let anything happen."

"You promise?"

"I promise." 


End file.
